Tag Archives: sbcs

Post navigation

Bring a full cup and join with SBCS members on ZOOM in a virtual “MEET & GREET” at 2PM Eastern on Sunday, June 14th.

Not wishing the Society’s camaraderie to languish during the 2020 Pandemic, cancellation of Convention 2020 and the long wait for Convention 2021, the Executive Team is working to establish a series of virtual programs to bring members together.

The platform is ZOOM.The moderator is Mark Fine.The length of time is 45 to 60 minutes.The loose plan for the initial meeting includes:

EMAIL INVITATION: An invitation to all paid-up members will be sent via EMAIL on Wednesday, June 10th.Members wishing to participate will need to REPLY to this EMAILand indicate their interest in attending the virtual “MEET & GREET.” This email will explain how to sign up for free ZOOM (if not already a user), and the steps you will need to take when you sign into the meeting.

EMAIL REGISTRATION:A 2nd EMAIL will be generated by ZOOM and sent to only those members who responded to the 1st email.This 2nd email will contain the PASSWORD for the meeting.On the day of the meeting sign in at 2PM or a few minutes earlier.Refer to the instructions in your first email.

MEETING: The MEET of this initial meeting includes self-introduction (Name, locale, collection specialty) – in other words – short and sweet!

THERE ARE PLANS FOR FUTHER MEETINGS.We have some ideas, but let us know your recommendations for topics.The suggested recurring date andtime is the 2nd Sunday of the Month at 2PM Eastern.Be sure to stay tuned.

Souvenir Building Collectors under “STAY SAFE” guidelines are finding a myriad of ways to stay busy.Are you one of those surfing the netways to find the next acquistion?Are you actually dusting your collection?Or maybe you are organizing it into themes, or countries, or materials, or by size.Some are even going to the effort of cataloging.

The participants in the Souvenir Building Facebook Group are finding ways to share their collections with other members via various challenges: the A-B-C challenge, a castle challenge, a multiples challenge. Come join the fun.

If you are unclear as to what “Crested Porcelain” is, here is a definition and a link to an excellent summary article with pictures posted on the “unofficial website for Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK.”

“Crested China, as the name suggests, are small, porcelain objects in a variety of shapes and forms that bear a heraldic crest to represent the area in which they were sold as souvenirs. It is also known as Crested Ware, Crest Ware or Heraldic China.”

The up-coming Kneisel Collection Flash Sale is Monday, February 24th. This Flash Sale will consist of CRESTED PORCELAIN and be limited to 8 boxes with 4 items. Each box will include at least 1 item that can be identified as a building, or monument. The cost will be $25 by check or $30 by PayPal ($25 plus $5 processing fee) per box.

CRESTED PORCELAIN

As a reminder, each SBCS Member in good standing (membership paid through 2020) can order only ONE box. If you are part of a Family Membership and wish to purchase TWO boxes (one box for each Member), please include BOTH names and pay double the per box price.

Keep an eye out for the official Flash Sale Notice email on that date and remember to follow the instructions.

Fitting for our Club to celebrate our Silver Anniversary with this specially commissioned piece celebrating the fundraising campaign responsible for paying for the Statue of Liberty base.
Read more in our newsletter.

In 2002, the following article on “Souvenir Buildings in Lucite” by Scott Daniels was published in SOUVENIR BUILDING COLLECTOR, Volume 9, Number 1.It is apropos for the upcoming Kneisel Collection Flash Sale 3: Lucite Embedded Buildings.

Building Blocks or Plastic Prisons?

We have seen them at yard sales and gift shops around the country: a building or monument trapped in a Lucite cube, rectangle, hexagon or pyramid.Buildings in Lucite are a recent addition to the history of souvenir buildings.

The manufacturing of Lucite embedments (which is what buildings in Lucite are considered) began shortly after World War II.It has remained on the best-kept manufacturing secrets, passed down to trusted associates.Because of the highly technical knowledge required, and the amount of discarded material, the total number of manufacturers is very small.

Lucite is a high quality form of acrylic that is a mixture of acrylic resin powder and monomer, a crystal clear liquid.The versatility of Lucite allows it to be custom designed into a variety of shapes and sizes, incorporating many different types of embedded elements.However, due to the chemical reactions during the process, not everything can be embedded.All pieces are hand-made and involve a long tedious productiion process involving:

PRINTING, CASTING, CURING, SANDING, BUFFING, INSPECTION

The first step – if necessary – is to print the building name and/or the event on the base.

The next step is to mix the resin powder and monomer in specific proportions.The result is a thick opaque liquid.The mixture is hand poured into molds and allowed to partially harden.At this point the building is hand placed into the Lucite layer.

Most embedments are either plastic or metal.Other collectors have told me that you can tell whether a piece is plastic or metal by the way the light reflects from it. If it appears dull it is most likely metal.If it gives a bright reflection, it tends to be plastic.

Another layer is poured over the embedded object and the Lucite is again allowed to harden.During this stage of production the liquid Lucite is an opaque, milky white.It is very difficult to center objects on multiple levels because you cannot see the objects below clearly.Because the buildings are placed in the moulds by hand, no two Lucite pieces are ever 100% alike.

At this point the molds are cured.The hardening Lucite molds are placed into an oven.There, heat cures and pressure squeezes out the air bubbles, to completely harden the embedment. The curing process takes up to seven hours.

After cooling, the Lucite embedments are removed from the molds, and the sizing process begins.All Lucite parts are cast oversized to allow for shrinkage.There are three steps taken to size the embedments.The objects are ground down to size by hand on large industrial sanders.A coarse grit-sanding belt is used first, followed by a medium grit belt and a final sanding with fine grit belt.This makes it easier to polish, which is the next step.

Polishing, just as sizing, is all done by hand.Polishing brings out the luster and high gloss of the Lucite not seen during the entire production process and also gets rid of the sanding lines.Once there is a bright crystal-like finish the production of the Lucite embedments is complete.

The final phase of the Lucite process is the inspection.Each piece is hand wiped and visually inspected.If there are flaws the part is returned for additional finishing or rejected outright and recycled.Once the piece passes, it is boxed and shipped out.

Some of the first buildings in Lucite date from the 1950’s.The miniature of the Seagram’s building in New York City encased in Lucite was made around 1957 as a Lucite display lighter.I guess there is no better way to showcase a modern building than to use a modern form of displaying the miniature version and making it useful at the same time.

During the 1960’s many more buildings, including the The Metropolitan Life building in New York City, were produced.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

One known to many collectors is the Travelers Insurance Building in Hartford, CT.About 1000 pieces were made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the company (1864-1964).They were given away to Travelers employees and representatives over the U.S.It is a very impressive piece, with all the Travelers buildings that occupy a full block in the city. (This is an update to the bronze inkwell given out in the 1930’s).

Another group of buildings embedded in Lucite are the Knights of Columbus convention pieces.They consist of Saint Joseph’s Oratory (Montreal, Canada), St. Patrick’s Cathedral (New York City), and the Immaculate Conception (Washington, DC).The Saint Joseph’s Oratory was given out at the 1967 85th Supreme Council convention.St. Patrick’s Cathedral piece was given out at the 1979 Supreme Council convention, and the Immaculate Conception was given away at the Supreme Council meeting in 1989.I’ve noticed that all the buildings encased are made of pewter with fine attention to details.They are well worth having in your collection.

In the 1970’s Lucite had reached its zenith with buildings of tourist sites being embedded in Lucite.Sites such as Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Memphis, TN; Seattle’s Space Needle (in various sizes); buildings in Washington, DC and across the nation were very popular at tourist shops.

Just as the production of souvenir buildings declined in the late 70’s and early 80’s, when they were replaced by T-shirts and coffee mugs, so did their Lucite counterparts.It just wasn’t cool to bring home a cube.

Most of the current Lucite buildings that you can buy at gift shops are from this time period.They were just never big sellers in shops.Some exceptions to this are the current John Hancock Tower in Chicago and Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

Many Lucite buildings can still be found everywhere and in every size.So the next time you come across a few have fun with them.Build a building block building with buildings inside!

The SUMMER 2019 edition of SOUVENIR BUILDING COLLECTOR has been mailed, emailed, and is available in the Member Section of this website.

There is a glorious “Photo Essay” rendering of the SBCS / SBCCA joint 2019 Convention in Olathe, KS for your viewing.

You will want to read Howie Gelbtuch’s (with help from Anton Tremblay) take on “DOWNsizing UPgrading.”

Statue of Liberty 1953

For those of you who bask in SOLs – you know who you are – there is a tid-bit.

And …..Joe Kopitz contributed “Souvenir Buildings of Classic Sites.”

KNEISEL COMMITTEE:

The next round of SBCS member opportunity to capture some of Bob’s Better Buildings was detailed in the newsletter. One box per member, but … If we do not get full Member response, we will open it to additional boxes after the first round. You can click here for a printable copy of the order form.The LAST DATE for participating is OCT. 19.

Coming in November will be a series of HOLIDAY FLASH SALES – Each Flash Sale will feature a single category of souvenir building collectible, the number of boxes in the offering will be limited by the number of items available in that category.

Keep these sales in mind as gift boxes to that special collector. The Flash Sale will be via email blast and a post. Be sure Joe has your email address on file.

FACEBOOK:

The SBCS FaceBook community is a hive of activity and pictures.Souvenir Building collectors (SBCS members and non-members alike) have been sharing photos, tips, stories, and exchanges, sales, wants, etc.Click here to join in the fun. Be sure to answer the questions asked of all who request membership in this closed group.

SBCS WEBSITE NEEDS A WEBMASTER / EDITOR:Donna must step down.This site is a wordpress.com site.The site is registered to SBCS.

This is no ordinary offer! Last year’s Bob Kneisel Committee’s Box Metal Pot Luck offer was a tremendous success.This time they are offering items from Bob Kneisel’s Collection that are NOT BUILDINGS.This offering will be souvenir statues, busts, animals, transportation items and other non-building items.Here’s the link to ALL the information.

GET YOUR ORDER IN NOW!

********************************************************

CLICK YOUR HEELS AND FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD TO THE SBCCA AND SBCS 2019 COLLECTORS CONVENTION IN KANSAS

The 2019 SBCS Convention in Olathe, Kansas is getting closer: June 4 to 8. If you haven’t made your arrangements yet, head over to the Convention Page for all the details.

OLATHE, KANSAS

In June of 2019 collectors on the trail of souvenir buildings and collectors of still banks will converge in Olathe, Kansas, where once The Oregon Trail, The California Trail, and The Santa Fe Trail overlapped.

Have YOU mapped out your route yet to the 25TH ANNIVERSARY CONVENTION of the Souvenir Building Collectors Society?

Here are some milestones you’ll need to consider to along the way:

The Still Bank Collectors Club (SBCCA) are hosting the event. To participate in ALL activities you will need to join the SBCCA (fee is $45.00). Here is a link to their website.

Convention Registration is through the SBCCA. The registration fee is $175 and is inclusive of all events. New members of SBCCA are entitled to a $45 reduction in the registration fee, thereby making Registration and Membership total $175. There are no separate fees for SBCS attendees.

Accommodations are at the EMBASSY SUITES, Olathe. Convention rates are for the dates June 3 – June 8,2019. Use the code SBC

The Convention Commemorative is a building shaped still or coin bank and is included in the registration fee.An SBCS Silver Anniversary Commemorative will be offered later in this year AND to all members in good standing at the time of the subscription.

Pick and Pack your Souvenir Buildings for sale or exchange during the convention. The process is a little different this year. SBCCA tradition is “Room Hopping” a practice which goes on for the duration of the convention.SBCS members will be able to participate in this exercise.SBCCA and SBCS will hold separate Auctions at each end of Saturday.As an attendee you will be able to participate in both auctions.

Spring Cleaning Time is Now!

Orders received until April 20. Shipped out by May 10.

It is that time of year when Souvenir Building Collector’s start to think about cleaning and dusting our Collections, and maybe, just maybe, we consider slimming down – our Collection that is.

The Kneisel Collection is no different from other Collections; it needs slimming down.In the spirit of Spring Cleaning, and Marie Kondo, if you are following the Netflix series, the Kneisel Committee is going to offer up selections from the Collection exclusively to current SBCS Members.These items Bob loved, and we wish to pass the love on to other Collectors.

SBCS 2019 Spring Cleaning: Some Examples

This is no ordinary offer!This time we are offering items from Bob Kneisel’s Collection that are NOT BUILDINGS.This offering will be souvenir statues, busts, animals, transportation items and other non-building items.The general rules of the offering are similar to last fall’s Pot Metal Box Luck offering: ONE Box per member. Paid-up member. $25 dollars for a random selection of six (6) items with shipping included in the price.Cost is slightly higher for a PayPal transaction.

If you are interested in this exclusive offer to expand your Collection and add six randomly selected pieces to your “other” Collections, CLICK HERE for the order form. Print and mail in your check or pay via Paypal.

See how easy it is to turn Spring Cleaning into Collection Enhancement.

In addition, SBCS Members in good standing can look forward to another Kneisel Collection offering later this year to commemorate our 25th Anniversary.This offering will be a random selection of more desirable souvenir buildings from the Collection.Look for details about this unique offer in our next newsletter.